May 19, 2010

Foodie Fun with my Girlies!

It rained on Monday. Is that not the best intro to a post? And I happen to be a fan of the rain. I love listening to it while drinking a cup of coffee or reading a book. I am so excited that my new house has three sets of french doors that open to a covered, screen porch because I can listen to it all I want.

But on Monday I was not prepared because when it rains, us girls usually do fun things like crafts. But I packed all their stuff. So I had to get creative. I had heard you could make peanut butter play doh so I looked up some recipes online. The first one I found sounded awesome because you can eat it. And Ella eats anything. I mean anything! She and Cati helped make cookies today and she was licking flour. EWWWW! But I give her props for trying it.

Here was the first recipe:

2 c. peanut butter

2 c. powdered milk

1 c. honey or corn syrup

Awesome! But I do not have powdered milk just lying around. What would I use it for? So I moved on but I think I will try this one someday. The next one was more my speed:

Equal parts peanut butter and corn starch! BINGO! So I got started...

Here is what I learned as I embarked on a venture that should have seriously had me questioning if my mental faculties were turned to the ON position...Peanut butter is messy. And sticky. And OILY. So the directions should read 1 part peanut butter and 27 parts corn starch. So before I figured that out, I made this...

What do you mean you don't know what it is?

It's a CAR!

But it got a flat. And it may have met the foot of Godzilla the way the roof is kind of drooping there.

Hey, I live in Florida. It's hot here.

Cati made this...

Very creative use of a fork. Since it was the only tool I had to give her. And caps from juice bottles. We are simple, country folk over here.

I made a snowman! With toothpicks. I like him but he looks like an old man with no teeth.

You may wonder what Ella was up to...well here's a shocker...

She was eating it.

Cati made an airplane. So sweet but I would have had no idea without the toothpick wings to guide me. OK. I admit it. She had to explain it to me. And I saw the look in her eye that said, "the wheel is spinnin' but the hamster's dead." Let's just say Cati is the Picasso of peanut butter play doh art.

Then I made this. It is supposed to be a cupcake. I will not type out what my 3 year olds interpretation of this was. But it rhymes with soupy.

And today we baked cookies together! How fun! But I really don't understand the power of white chocolate chips. Do any of you? Why do they flatten and stiffen cookies? I am so baffled by this. Is it me? My pantry was packed with different chips so I threw 3 kinds in there. Was this wrong? Do I need a lesson in baking even if I followed the recipe on a generic bag of chips?

Look at them...

They are all flat and stiff. I just dunno. All of you savvy bakers out there need to gather me in the fold of "Baking Wisdom" and school me on the art of white chocolate chips.

But look at these cuties...

Ella sat on the counter while Cati stood on a stool and they helped me dump ingredients in the bowl. I love that these are memories they can hold on to for along time. I love spending time with these, messy, giggly, imaginative, sweet little girls.

I made chocolate chip cookies the other night with Ryder, and my two nephews....baking with a 1, 2, and a 3 year old boy...fun, fun, fun! Anyway, I had read a tip somewhere about putting cookies in a muffin pan to keep them from spreading too thin. (They were from a mix, not totally homemade, I must confess :) I had to cook them a little longer, but they were pretty awesome. I sprayed the muffin tin with cooking spray, although the package says not "an ungreased cookie sheet." I usually ignore that rule anyways, and since I was ignoring the cookie sheet part, it just made sense to ignore the rest of it. The cookies came out perfectly after I let them cool for a few minutes.I had three happy chocolate faces that agreed. I probably had a little too much cookie dough in each spot because they really looked more like muffins than cookies. Next time I will make 24 cookies instead of the 12 and try that. I didn't know that white chocolate chips had secret powers though, so I appreciate the warning. I always use whatever sort of "chips" I have in the cabinet w/o concern if it's exactly the right kind.

I hope the muffin pan cookies give you a good excuse to make cookies again soon! I have to have "reasons" to make cookies, bc I tend to eat too many, but the reasons don't have to be overly complex :)

I have to agree with the soupy rhyme, I immediatly thought of a soupy rhyme when I saw your cupcake, sorry Jess.. and I thought the car was a crab. ha ha we had a rain storm here today too. So windy it rained sideways!

Oh I can so relate. But your cookies look gorgeous next to mine. Last week when I made cookies I left them in until they were BLACK...Bi asked for a cookie & I said, "They are burnt." He said, "let me see." "See they are burnt." Then he said, "You can say that again. I almost posted about it because it was so funny to hear my 2 year old say that but I have had other stuff pouring out of this little brain...so when you see the burnt cookie post...you will know I was desperate :)

Ummm it's so a car! I mean, I work with 2 and 3 year olds but I totally saw the car! And the plane made sense after the explanation of toothpick wings. I used that first recipe with toddlers one year at VBS and it worked GREAT!P.S. I believe the muffin tin idea is your next Two Tips Tuesday tip! Oh my word! I don't know why that never occurred to me but it should have! Seriously good idea!

Sooooo, I don't know if you "coupon," and even if you do, keeping up during moving would be more impressive than I can even imagine, but one of the websites I check just posted a free gift set for FL residents, and I was so excited to "know" someone who lived in FL, so I thought I'd share the link :) I have an email dedicated to my couponing and signing up for free samples stuff, so I all the time am getting little tubes of shampoo and tooth paste in the mail, and I cannot wait to go on a trip and not have to go spend $1 on a little tube of whatever! Besides, it's more fun to get free presents in the mail than bills :)

I agree with the first comment, white chocolate? I know it's made with like cocoa butter or something like that, but it's NOT chocolate in my book. :) Even with regular choc chip cookies, I usually add a little extra flour, that helps them stay "puffier." I LOVE making chocolate chips cookies....mmmmmm! In the end I really don't care what they look like...I eat them any way they come!

I have GOT to try that! Looks like you girls had fun :) Thanks for stopping by my blog too. I'm passing on the Versatile Blog Award to you. You can check it out here http://brittneysbudgetcrafts.blogspot.com/Have a great day :)

Cute, cute, cute! Looks like so much fun. These are the type of days that make me feel so blessed to be a mother! The memories we make really do last a lifetime. They are the ones I cherish as an adult. I always loved time in the kitchen with my mom! And you are such a fun and wonderful mom to your girls. And so creative I might add. Love you! Kelly